Flight operations with the tilt-rotor Osprey, designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft, will continue through April 11.

During the test flight, Marine Corps aviation personnel worked closely with Military Sealift Command civil service mariners aboard Sacagawea, familiarizing themselves with the aircraft's unique capabilities, as well as its cargo lifting and passenger transfer capabilities.

Meanwhile, flight deck personnel practiced connecting the MV-22 to a humvee, lifting it and placing it safely on the ground at nearby Subic Bay international airport.

Sacagawea will conduct additional landing qualifications, refueling operations, passenger transfers and cargo lifts with the Osprey throughout the remainder of Exercise Balikatan 2013, an annual Republic of the Philippines-U.S. military bilateral training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement and will take place in the from April 5-17.

Sacagawea is deployed to the Philippines in support of exercise Freedom Banner and Balikatan and delivered 170 pieces of Marine Corps cargo ashore via U.S. Navy watercraft last month in support of the exercise while anchored off the coast of Subic Bay.

Source: SUBIC BAY, US Navy News - 10 April 2013

Photo: The U.S. Marine Corps aviation MV-22 Marine Osprey (Photo by US Navy)